Title : Lakeside forest in the mountains
Size : 30.5cm by 22.9cm Medium : Colored pencils on sketch paper Completion : April 2022 Exhibition text: The landscape of the Upper Peninsula has also quite beautiful to me and wanted to capture that in a neoclassical style like those of Albert Biestadt, but with my own style of landscapes mixed within. |
Inspirations : Among the Sierra Nevada Mountains, California by Albert Bierstadt
Albert Bierstadt was a German artist from the 1800s (1830 - 1902). Bierstadt's paintings mainly focus on the western part of america like california. It's apart of the neoclassicism art movement so it focused heavily on more realism then some other movement Another inspiration is the Upper peninsula of Michigan. Much of the places I see there are either forested or urban environments, it also has some mountains scattered about such as Sugarloaf mountain. I spend a lot of time there and it is the only time I really enjoy being outside in nature for extended periods of time. I was also slightly influenced by the landscape and backgrounds from the 1st How to Train Your Dragon movie. as they are similar to my final piece. The main setting is a forested island with a large mountain in the middle. A stormy night in the rocky mountains by Albert Bierstadt
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Among the Sierra Nevada Mountains, California by Albert Bierstadt
Mount-baker,Washington by Albert Bierstadt
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Planning : My original plan was to do the illustration piece, but I decided to leave it for later. But I knew that either way, I wanted a natural landscape. So I practiced some more basic aspects I would likely be using. I attempted some shading and a new style of mountains that were more realistic because I had generally created more triangular mountains.
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That fact that I was wanting to make an illustration is very apparent with this. I had made a mock up of what I wanted to do. but besides for the buildings, it was also kind of what I wanted to do for the final piece, but it lacks details. But if I were to have used this for a final piece it would need a lot more detail.
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Process/Experimentation : This was the most familiar medium for me. Despite this I don't feel like I'm very good at it. But my first steps were making the mountains. I added details that I learned from a Tiktoker who gave art tips. He mentioned adding jagged lines to add detail to the mountains. After that I started with a large row of pine trees at the base of the mountains, and two in the foreground. I was inspired mainly by the forested areas of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The lake in the center is based off of Shag lake from the same place. I had planned on making a dock, but to better fit with neo classical styles.
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I started to color in the trees first. This part has never been my strong suit in landscapes. I used a varied assortment of green hues. I feel like I went a little overboard with the amount. I also made the lake blue for a lack a creativity. I wanted to add green to it as well to make it match shag lake but forgot to. I added a border of brown around the lake to simulate the mud and wet sand generally seen around lakes. I also added the green "water moss" that's seen near the edges or by large amounts of vegetation. The log was meant to hold a meaning but I couldn't think of any so I just ended up part of the scenery.
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Coloring the mountains was poorly done. I very loosely followed the same directions but would switch it up every so often. I also just went flat over the lines. I feel like the mountains, despite being an improvement to previous ones, are still lacking overall. I think that's due to the lack of highlights & shadows. This is some but it's barely even visible, I think if I make it more dynamic with shading, it would look better. I also colored the sky, just as sloppily I feel. Once again it feels very flat, especially compared to Bierstadt's works. The sun was easier as it's ,mostly white with some very slight yellow to make it not completely white/blank. The grass is also flat and has no shadowing so that would also need to be fixed.
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Critique/ reflection : On one had, this a major upgrade to any previous landscape I have made. This is more detail and "realism" then any other. But despite this is is still very weak. Much of it looks rough and poorly colored. Most of the colors are flat and not mixed or blended. Overall it looks very rushed. But much of my other landscapes have the same feelinng to it. I also feel like it doesn't live up to the inspiration. despite being a different medium there looks like there's only a very surface connection. Overall this is one piece that would require lots more work to make it look decent, but despite that I am still proud of my improvements for creating more detailed landscapes.
Compare & Contrast :
Compare : Both are landscape pieces that have a large focus on a water source surrounded by a forest and mountains. Both were inspired because of beautiful landscapes. Both have a much stronger emphasis on the mountains.
Contrast : One's a neoclassical oil painting while the other's a neoclassical-inspired drawing on sketch paper. The inspiration focuses heavily on the lighting to create more vivid scenes while my art looks very flat comparatively. My landscape does not exist, It's been modeled off of certain places that don't exist together in one spot.
Compare : Both are landscape pieces that have a large focus on a water source surrounded by a forest and mountains. Both were inspired because of beautiful landscapes. Both have a much stronger emphasis on the mountains.
Contrast : One's a neoclassical oil painting while the other's a neoclassical-inspired drawing on sketch paper. The inspiration focuses heavily on the lighting to create more vivid scenes while my art looks very flat comparatively. My landscape does not exist, It's been modeled off of certain places that don't exist together in one spot.
lakeside forest in the mountains (left)
Among the Sierra Nevada Mountains, California by Albert Bierstadt (right)
Among the Sierra Nevada Mountains, California by Albert Bierstadt (right)
Connections to ACT :
1.)The cause and effect relationship of my inspiration and my own work is the Main focus of the artwork. The large and sprawling mountians with the forest beside it is absolutely breathtaking and I wanted even just a portion of that within my own work.
2.) The overall approach is paint nature. While he also made it to make money, he also liked to capture the beauty of the west.
3.) The generalization is Bierstadt that loved the natural beauty of western America. Most of his art is related to the vast canyons and cliffs of California and the other places around there.
4.) The central idea was to was to capture the beauty of the west. Most of his art work focused on landscapes of the area of the west coast area.
5.) The inferences that I saw was that Bierstadt loved the western part of America. BEcause he was an imagrant to america, it was likely drastically different from where he came from.
1.)The cause and effect relationship of my inspiration and my own work is the Main focus of the artwork. The large and sprawling mountians with the forest beside it is absolutely breathtaking and I wanted even just a portion of that within my own work.
2.) The overall approach is paint nature. While he also made it to make money, he also liked to capture the beauty of the west.
3.) The generalization is Bierstadt that loved the natural beauty of western America. Most of his art is related to the vast canyons and cliffs of California and the other places around there.
4.) The central idea was to was to capture the beauty of the west. Most of his art work focused on landscapes of the area of the west coast area.
5.) The inferences that I saw was that Bierstadt loved the western part of America. BEcause he was an imagrant to america, it was likely drastically different from where he came from.
Bibliography :
https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.6707.html
https://americanart.si.edu/artist/albert-bierstadt-410
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Albert-Bierstadt
https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.6707.html
https://americanart.si.edu/artist/albert-bierstadt-410
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Albert-Bierstadt